Farao: From volleyball courts to business ventures

Wilfred ‘Willa’ Farao — former Western Suburbs, Killers and the national volleyball team star — regrets not extending his playing career or pursuing a coaching role.

Windhoek-born Farao grew up kicking a soccer ball around with his friends.

“Sports like volleyball were a taboo where I come from. In fact, some of my friends even suggested at the time that volleyball was a girls’ sport,” he says.

“I started playing volleyball at Ella du Plessis Secondary School after being introduced to the game by my longtime friend Deon Cloete, whom I still consider as one of the true legends of the game in our country. I owe everything I have achieved in the sport to Deon.”

Farao and Cloete played for the Black Africa Volleyball Club at Katutura while still pupils at Ella du Plessis in the late 1980s.

The two friends, who would later dominate the two-a-side beach volleyball scene between 1991 and 1997, won their first club competition, the Sonic Cup, with Black Africa.

“Things changed for the better when we started the Western Suburbs Volleyball Club as we really went on to cement our places among the top volleyball players in the country. The national selectors reluctantly drew us into the Namibian team,” Farao says.

“There was a section of people in the white community who were under the false illusion that volleyball was an exclusively white sport. It required extra effort and consistent displays on the volleyball court to make it into the national team for players of colour.”

Farao, who made it onto the national team, was infamously left behind when the team travelled to Zimbabwe for the Africa Zone Six Volleyball Championships shortly after independence.

But tough as it was, the star received his national colours during the Africa Zone Six Volleyball Championships hosted by Namibia in 1992.

Considered as one of the best all-rounders in the country, Farao performed consistently at club level during a trophy-laden career.

“I was like what you call a midfielder in football on the volleyball court. I dictated matters for my team from the middle of the court. I set the tempo for the attack as I controlled the pace of the team. I was a brilliant sitter, decker and spiker,” he says.

“I was a team player, through and through, and gave my 120% on the court. I didn’t like teammates who hid themselves from the action. I was in the thick of things inspired by star players like Bevin (Zealand), Keff (van Wyk) and Deon, I made my presence felt.”

Farao’s showing with Suburbs earned him two consecutive sportsman of the year awards, 1991 and 1992, and a best player of the year title in 1993.

The retired star also clinched the DTS Volleyball Tournament three times – in 1991, 1994 and 2014.

His glittering career included two league titles – the Pepsi National Men’s Volleyball League and the Tafel Lager Volleyball League in 1997.

A former fly-half with the Ella du Plessis rugby team, Farao, was good on the attack, set and pick-up on the volleyball court.

His stature in the game was recognised after he was appointed head coach of the women’s national team that participated in the African Volleyball Championships in Kenya in 2002.

“It was a very great honour for me to have been appointed as head coach of the women’s national team that played in a prestigious event like the African champs. Despite a lack of coaching skills, the volleyball federation still showed their trust in me,” Farao says.

“Leading the team at the event was a complete eye-opener. I admired the high standard of professionalism displayed by the players, especially the ladies from Egypt, Morocco, Tunisia, Cameroon and Kenya who were on a completely other level.”

He says while one could see the raw physicality of the Cameroonian and Kenyan players, the skills and tactical acumen of the North Africans was awesome.

Farao and Cloete left Western Suburbs to form a club known as the Killers, with whom they continued their brilliance on volleyball courts around the country.

He mentions winning the Northern Cape Club Volleyball Tournament with a combined team of the Killers and De Pumas as another highlight of his volleyball career.

The retired star was left a widower after his wife, Sharon Farao, died in 2021, during the Covid-19 pandemic.

“We had a very beautiful marriage and Sharon was a good wife to me and a wonderful mother to our three children. It is now four years since she was unexpectedly taken away from us, but her spirit lives on in us. She was too wonderful a person to be forgotten easily,” Farao says.

Farao currently manages his own transport business.

“I am commuting the staff of Pick n Pay Supermarket and those of a few restaurants around the city, starting in 2022. Business is smooth sailing.”

He says like any other business, there are challenges in the transport industry, like having to deal with different kinds of people, fuel prices and maintenance costs.

Farao says he is satisfied with his achievements.

“However,” he says, “it required blood and sweat to get all that I gained from the sport I loved so much. There were no two stories, even the best sporting icons will tell you that you can’t expect to gain success without any extra effort on the training ground.”

“I enjoyed myself very much on the court and I gave my all in every game I played, no matter the opponent. In fact, I played every match as if it was my last one. My only wish was that I could have played a little longer after I got married.”

Apart from camping, travelling and the togetherness of his teammates, Farao misses the tough training sessions and the cheering crowds.

Farao, who now enjoys table tennis with the Hochland Acers, advises young volleyball players to explore tips and training methods from the internet.

“They are living in an era where they are exposed to the internet. With the advancement of technology, you even have video clips about training, you just make sure you have disciplined then you are good to go,” he says.